West Asia tug-of-war: Iran came closer to nukes because of Trump, says Walz

Praising the steady leadership and calmness of vice president Kamala Harris, her running mate, governor Tim Walz, slammed the policies of the Republican presidential candidate, claiming that Iran was able to access nuclear weapons because of former president Donald Trump.

Senator J.D. Vance, however, asserted that Trump consistently made the world more secure.

These remarks were made on Tuesday, 1 October, during the only vice-presidential debate between Walz and Vance in New York, hosted by CBS News. It took place hours after Iran fired at least 180 missiles into Israel as regionwide conflict grows in West Asia.

During the debate, Walz also said that Trump is unfit to lead.

“What we've seen out of vice president Harris is steady leadership,” said Walz, who is her running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket for the November general elections. ”We've seen a calmness that can draw on the coalitions to bring them together, understanding that our allies matter.”

In response to the question on the Iranian attack on Israel, he continued: “When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed. And as the Vice President said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces, and there will be consequences.”

The US along with Israeli partners and coalition, was able to stop the incoming attack from Iran, he said.

“But what's fundamental here,” Walz continued, “is that steady leadership is going to matter. It's clear — and the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago — a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need at this moment. But it's not just that. It's those that were closest to Donald Trump that understand how dangerous he is when the world is this dangerous.”

“His chief of staff, John Kelly, said that he was the most flawed human being he has ever met,” Walz alleged. ”Both of his secretaries of defence and his national security advisors said he should be nowhere near the White House. Now, the person closest to them, [to] Donald Trump, said he's unfit for the highest office. That was Senator Vance.”

Trump’s running mate, senator J.D. Vance, said the Republican presidential candidate recognised that for people to fear the US, one needed peace through strength.

“As much as Governor Walz just accused Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence,” Vance said. “People were afraid of stepping out of line. Iran, which launched this attack, has received over USD 100 billion in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration.”

“What do they use that money for?” Vance continued. ”They use it to buy weapons that they're now launching against our allies and, God forbid, potentially launching against the United States as well. Donald Trump recognised that for people to fear the United States, you needed peace through strength. They needed to recognise that if they got out of line, the United States' global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.”

Walz, for his part, claimed that Iran is now closer to nuclear weapons because of Trump's administration rather than Biden–Harris'.

“When Donald Trump was in office, [we] had a coalition of nations that had boxed Iran's nuclear programme in, the inability to advance it. Donald Trump pulled that programme and put nothing else in its place,” argued Walz. ”So Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of his fickle leadership.”

“When Iran shot down an American aircraft in international airspace, Donald Trump tweeted because that's the standard diplomacy of Donald Trump. When Iranian missiles did fall near US troops and they received traumatic brain injuries, Donald Trump wrote it off as headaches. Look, our allies understand that Donald Trump is fickle. He will go to whoever has the most flattery or where it makes sense to him,” Walz added.

Vance asserted that Trump consistently made the world more secure. “The sequence of events that led us to where we are right now, and you can't ignore October the 7th... When did Iran, Hamas and their proxies attack Israel? It was during the administration of Kamala Harris. Governor Walz can criticise Donald Trump's tweets, but effective, smart diplomacy and peace through strength is how you bring stability back to a very broken world,” he said.

“Donald Trump has already done it once before. Ask yourself at home, when was the last time that an American president didn't have a major conflict break out? The only answer is during the four years that Donald Trump was president,” Vance said.